Forewind secures consent for another 2.4 GW of offshore wind

05.08.2015 16.40 | pressrelease

Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm in the North Sea

The development consent order for Teesside A&B, at Dogger Bank in the North Sea, was granted today, marking the first decision on a major infrastructure application by the newly appointed UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Amber Rudd.

The consent is offshore wind consortium Forewind's second approval following that of Dogger Bank Creyke Beck in February. The Teesside A&B and Creyke Beck A&B developments both have a proposed installed capacity of 2.4 GW, making them the equal largest renewable energy applications ever to be approved in the UK, and together the world's biggest planned offshore wind scheme.

The Dogger Bank Teesside A&B consent is the result of more than four years of comprehensive assessments, community and stakeholder consultation, and planning by the consortium, owned equally by the four international energy companies – Statkraft, Statoil RWE and SSE. This work included the most extensive study of an offshore area ever undertaken by a wind energy developer, with more than £60 million spent on surveys, the vast majority going to UK-based contractors.

Welcoming the announcement Olav Hetland, Statkraft's Senior Vice President of Offshore Wind Power, said: "The consent award for Dogger Bank Teesside A&B marks another important milestone in the development of the world's largest offshore wind farm, which has the potential to make a significant contribution to the UK's energy security, economic growth, and ambitions on carbon reduction."

"Statkraft aims to take an operator role on one of the Dogger Bank projects and work with our partners in the Forewind consortium to progress the projects further."

When constructed, Dogger Bank Teesside A&B will be capable of generating 8 terawatt hours (TWh) of green energy per annum, which is more than enough to power all the commercial and industrial consumers in the North East of England every year and equal to the amount used annually by approximately two million British homes.*

The consent of the 2.4 GW Dogger Bank Teesside A&B development allows for two separate 1.2 GW projects, each with up to 200 turbines installed across an area of around 600 km2 and located 165 kilometres from the UK coast at the closest point.